[Gansan]

^^ There were two type of bicycle "head lights" during my school days. The first one was just a kerosene lamp, designed to be fitted to a clamp at the centre of the handlebars. Needless to say, it won't illuminate the road, but will make the cyclist visible for other road users. The second one was called a "dynamo set" and will have a head lamp that could illuminate the road, a small red color tail lamp, and a small bottle like attachment which was fitted near the rear wheel, on the right side of the frame. It will have a small blunt toothed gear at the top. Wires led from the contraption to the head and tail lamps. At the push of a lever, the contraption will tilt towards the rear wheel and the toothed gear will touch the tyre, start spinning and produce power to operate the lamps. Needless to say, only well off people had the latter kind! My brother and I pestered our father till he got one for each of us.

Police will periodiclly stop us and check for working front lamps, a tail lamp / red color reflector, and the all important licence issued by the Municipality for owning and using the bicycle! One needed licences for owning bicycles, dogs and home radio receivers!

People with dynamo fitted bicycles were upper middle class! Anyone owning a Motorbike or scooter was rich! A car owner was super rich!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Gansan

The second one was called a "dynamo set"

The dynamo light used to be there even in the 80s and 90s, especially on the old style bicycles. We used to have a Raleigh cycle from the 60s (which my dad brought from his early day salary), which I rode sometime in high school till my 3rd year in college, till one fine day, the cross member decided to break off middle of a ride.

One needed licences for owning bicycles

When was this?

By the time I grew up, 16 year olds could ride sub 60cc 2 wheelers Luna, TVS 50, Bajaj Sunny to school.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by narayans80

When was this?

During my school days (1965-75). The licence was not for riding the cycle but for ownership. It was a small badge like thing which one fixed on the cycle itself. Ditto for dogs. The badge should be attached to the dog's collar. Any unattended dog without the badge will be caught and taken away by the Municipal dog catcher van. These "licences" were one time payments, a small fee. For the radio there was a booklet which one carried to the post office every month/quarter (I don't remember now), paid a small fee and got it endorsed on the book.

B&W TV came to Chennai around 1975, and they needed a licence too. But soon thereafter for some reason the government decided to abolish all four licences.

My father had a Robinhood bicycle which he bought from his first salary during late fifties. He will ride it to the local train station, leave it at a stand and go by train to work. My grandfather, at our native place Seerkazhi, had an "England Raleigh" cycle which he bought from HIS first salary during the thirties! He was very proud of it and won't let anyone touch it.

I joined college in 1976 and wanted a bicycle. My father gave me his and started walking to the station. The next year my brother joined college and wanted a bicycle too. My grandfather sent his prized Raleigh to him and started walking too. Buying a new one was not so easy for them at the time.

Sorry for the rambling! My father,89, passed away three weeks ago at home due to age related ailments. The fond memories started to gush out and wouldn't stop!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^The second one was called a "dynamo set"

Originally Posted by narayans80

The dynamo light used to be there even in the 80s and 90s...

I remember it from 1950s in England.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ There were two type of bicycle "head lights" during my school days. The first one was just a kerosene lamp, designed to be fitted to a clamp at the centre of the handlebars. Needless to say, it won't illuminate the road, but will make the cyclist visible for other road users. The second one was called a "dynamo set" ...

I also remember a third type - a battery operated lamp, that would take two Eveready batteries (R20 type) and attached to the same mount as the dynamo headlamp.

(Sorry for the OT)

[guru_max]

Originally Posted by narayans80

The dynamo light used to be there even in the 80s and 90s, especially on the old style bicycles. We used to have a Raleigh cycle from the 60s (which my dad brought from his early day salary), which I rode sometime in high school till my 3rd year in college, till one fine day, the cross member decided to break off middle of a ride.



When was this?

By the time I grew up, 16 year olds could ride sub 60cc 2 wheelers Luna, TVS 50, Bajaj Sunny to school.

Dynamos were a thing even in 2000s but eventually the headlights started getting replaced like reflective mirrors at the front and back and in most cases even they were not available.

[Shanksta]

What has happened to our city's roads and traffic ?

Almost every major road has some or the other type of digging going on. Pallikaranai to Thoraipakkam was a wonderful road that has now been brutally torn apart and repaired carelessly. There are huge dips and sharp joints that test your spinal cord and your car's suspension.

IRR from Velachery MRTS towards GST on the Sunshine school side once again has been reduced from 2 lanes to single lane as they've dug up an entire lane for storm water drainage construction.

All the places where Cops had put up long lines of Barricades during lockdown to check epass have been left as it is/made permanent. Manned by Law and Order cops now to stop and check commercial vehicles. Some places I have noticed this is near Semmencheri, Kamakshi hospital, Muthukkadu bridge, Perungaathur, MIOT Porur, ITC Chola, etc.,

Road discipline, which was not great even pre-covid, is lost completely! I drive exactly the same as I always do and yet now after every drive I feel like I am bad driver because I had to brake suddenly or switch lanes, make emergency maneuvers multiple times because of aloof 2 wheeler riders, cars that drive around like they are late for a meeting with the President, Cabs & rickshaws that frankly seem to be trying to see who can survive on the thin line that separates life and death, MTC drivers that now have 0% compassion(down from the earlier 1%) towards other road users. Generally it now feels like we are in a free for all fight on the roads.

Earlier I used to fear stopping at red lights during late night drives to avoid getting rear ended by one of the F1 drivers practicing on the road. Now it is scary to stop at a signal even in broad daylight and especially on OMR.

Everyone wants to be healthy now, lots of people have taking up walking, jogging, cycling. It is a good thing but I have a problem with these cyclists. No no they cannot ride in a line because they need to talk with each other and show moral support. So they always ride 3 or 4 abreast, motivating each other to reach their target and yes they can occupy an entire lane. I mean who cares about the people with vehicles that had to pay 4/5/6 digit taxes to be allowed to ply on the roads or who really cares about their vehicle's wear and tear while having to slow down, switch lanes and speed up again. But whatever happens do not honk or they will get upset.

Adding to all this are the amazing new potholes on many of the roads or poor repair jobs that are worse than the actual pothole. Not to forget the work done by the law makers to now install ridiculously tall and poorly designed white rumbler strips on the main roads. Unless you crawl over them you will be able to feel your brain trying to exit your cranium. But then I cannot slow down for these strips lest I want to be rear ended by the water lorry tailing me with less that a feet between us.

End of rant.

I promise I will never speak ill of Bangalore(other city I used to frequent pre-covid) roads again.

[lsjey]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

What has happened to our city's roads and traffic ?

Almost every major road has some or the other type of digging going on. Pallikaranai to Thoraipakkam was a wonderful road that has now been brutally torn apart and repaired carelessly. There are huge dips and sharp joints that test your spinal cord and your car's suspension.

Road discipline, which was not great even pre-covid, is lost completely!

I promise I will never speak ill of Bangalore(other city I used to frequent pre-covid) roads again.

I fully agree. I had to travel to porur yesterday and had a tough time. EB guys are digging to lay cables.

Traffic discipline is totally gone. More than that, people are honking aggressively, and road rage is also on the rise. Like you, I too used to utter imprecations on the traffic conditions in Bangalore. But from now on, I'll shut up about that.

Regards,
lsjey

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Generally it now feels like we are in a free for all fight on the roads.

Fully agree with you.

I was anyway not a fan of driving manners on Indian roads, but noticed of late, that it has gone from bad to worse! Also it seems more people are looking for personal cars (used cars) for commute? I also feel traffic in general has increased, is it only me who feel this? I commute around Chennai south, OMR area.

Spike

[aargee]

New parking spot is discovered! Thanks to the innovative ideas for easing parking problems from Police themselves!!

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

I was anyway not a fan of driving manners on Indian roads, but noticed of late, that it has gone from bad to worse! Also it seems more people are looking for personal cars (used cars) for commute? I also feel traffic in general has increased, is it only me who feel this?

Your observations are spot on & I'm with you on this! Post covid lockdown many folks have purchased or loaning/have take loans to purchase new vehicle, two-wheelers especially, avoiding public transport for pandemic. And yes, many of them have started riding/driving/commuting regularly for first time & obviously have to learn a lot of manners, just like kids!! Especially the middle-aged, elders & pullingos

[irdevanand]

Hi All,

Got into a nasty traffic jam yesterday night while returning to chennai from Nagercoil. We crossed the last but oneth toll at 7.30PM and the last 33 KMs to my home took me 6 hours !!!!!. Took a detour via uthiremerur etc and then reached the last toll by 1.06 AM and reached home by 1.30 :-)

The cause
The bridge right before the last toll was closed for traffic yesterday evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uceM...ature=youtu.be

The 6 hour delay

You can see below from toll receipts that we crossed Athur toll by 7.33pm and then crossed the paranur toll the next day at 1.06 AM.


The saving grace
Looking at the traffic pile up and the detour in google map i called our office cab company and asked them for help. They sent two guys in a cab. The cab reached up to the other side of the bridge and one driver hitch hiked in a bike and crossed over to the other side of the bridge. By that time i had filled up petrol in the uthiramerur hp bunk and waited for him. It was pure luck we refueled at that point. In that 6 hour jam we saw few vehicles run out of petrol and being pushed to side of the road and occupants trying to get into other vehicles. Once our driver took over we caught some sleep and it was the only saving grace in an otherwise nasty problem.

Big big thanks to https://sharmanscab.com/ sherman cab company and the acting driver Balaji. If you live in this side of the city (guduvanchery area) then would recommend you to check them out for any cab needs. You can refer my name. 98400 61594 store this number in your phone as Sherman.

The Trip
My father in law was not well and after lot of deliberation we decided to bite the bullet and take the trip instead of flying or taking the train. Less chances of exposure. Mind you we have not set our foot outside our apartment for nearly 2 years. My car has run around 1000 Kms or so in the last two years. Got the car serviced and then drove it from chennai to nagercoil and reached by 5.40 pm. The 100% fasttag tolls saved at least couple of hours in the drive. Covid pushed the no touch concept to 100%. That is one good thing that happened in covid i guess. The guy who tries to scan your car with a manual scanner is gone now. We were pleasantly surprised to see we could reach home by 5.40pm.

Though the return journey didn't go as planned its ok. God helped us in the right time. Now back to work after a long and much deserved trip to hometown after 2 years.



Regards
Dev

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

You can see below from toll receipts that we crossed Athur toll by 7.33pm and then crossed the paranur toll the next day at 1.06 AM.

All we can see there is a plate of rice and some Shrimp. Do they serve food in toll booth ?

[varunanb]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

Hi All,

Got into a nasty traffic jam yesterday night while returning to chennai from Nagercoil. We crossed the last but oneth toll at 7.30PM and the last 33 KMs to my home took me 6 hours !!!!!. Took a detour via uthiremerur etc and then reached the last toll by 1.06 AM and reached home by 1.30 :-)

It was a little better for me. Reached mamandur Manoj Bhavan around 4 pm and by the time I reached the paranur toll plaza, it was 8.15. Earlier that day, another bhpian was able to cross within an hour and half. It got progressively bad to worse.

Hope the traffic eases when I next drive on the route this weekend.

[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by Prowler

All we can see there is a plate of rice and some Shrimp. Do they serve food in toll booth ?

Can you please refresh the page once? i am able to see the toll receipts properly and the plate pic is from my hometown under the trip heading. I wish they served shrimp in toll yesterday was a disaster for kids. Had nothing to eat at all. No hotels nothing in that detour area. Before we realized we are not going to make it to the home for dinner we were already in that spot.

Regards
Dev

[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by varunanb

It was a little better for me. Reached mamandur Manoj Bhavan around 4 pm and by the time I reached the paranur toll plaza, it was 8.15. Earlier that day, another bhpian was able to cross within an hour and half. It got progressively bad to worse.

Hope the traffic eases when I next drive on the route this weekend.

I made a request to Gagandeep Singh Bedi sir (The Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner and a person i have a lot of respect for) about this incident. I feel if they just get the influx vs outflux data from both toll gates and take decisions on which side to open/close it will avoid such problems. If you know someone in the TN department or Highways department who could be in a position to hear us out kindly tweet them or make a petition. Here is my tweet sharing my experience yesterday

https://twitter.com/Dev76793104/stat...37453364256768


My team mate saw my message and took the ECR route from pondy to chennai airport by 3 AM. When he returned to pondy via paranur toll gate it was around 5AM and he said the traffic situation was the same - long lines for several kilometers towards chennai but zero traffic from chennai to pondy. He crossed the bridge area in 2 mins while the opp side is choked from yesterday evening.

Regards
Dev